Designer Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld - the ruler of many fashion houses that thrive and thrive under his creative leadership. One can only admire him. Such a bright personality as Karl Lagerfeld cannot live without the heightened interest of others. So we decided to devote a few lines to him in our magazine.

For some, he is unusual Mr. in black glasses, probably hiding fatigue, or maybe age, for others - a genius or just an incredibly talented designer of our time.
He is in many ways similar to Chanel - not only with fanaticism at work, but also with his personal life. In his models, he always tries to use the influence of everything that surrounds him, as the legendary Coco did. Chanel was and remains the most mysterious and most influential, the press constantly hunts for Lagerfeld in order to reveal his secret - the secret of his genius, his plans, ideas, his personal life. The name of Lagerfeld sounds at all shows, does not leave the pages of not only glossy magazines, but also newspaper pages.

Karl Lagerfeld was born in 1938 on September 10 in the city of Hamburg into a German family. His father was very entrepreneurial and earned a considerable fortune on the supply of canned milk to Europe. This provided Karl with the opportunity to get an education. Little Karl, under the guidance of his mother, wasted no time. From childhood, he began his rapid ascent to the Olympus of Fashion. And by the age of 14 he re-read many books, studied music, art, studied foreign languages ​​(Karl Lagerfeld is fluent in English, French and Italian). Thanks to the upbringing of his mother, who believed in his bright future, he had good manners and exquisite taste from an early age. All this gave him the opportunity from childhood to determine his future profession - design art.

Already at the age of 12, he knew what he would do in this life, and at the age of 14 he began to study in Paris at a school under the High Fashion Syndicate. Karl is captured not only beautybut also many temptations. And what? Namely, that Karl continues with all his zeal to study the sciences of beauty and exquisite perfumes. Yes, and perfumes too. Because, as he said later, each collection must have its own perfume. Soon he was invited to work by Pierre Balmain. The Balmain firm invited him after he won the first prize in the International Woolen Secretariat competition. Then for this competition he presented a coat made of wool, and young Yves Saint Laurent at the same competition received the first prize for a dress. Karl continues to work, and along with the sciences of beauty, he is studying how a huge mechanism called "Empire of Fashion" works. And since 1958 Karl Lagerfeld has been working in the House of Jean Patou. Here he worked for five years, where he created two collections every year. He always succeeded in everything that his golden hands worked on. Collections of clothes, shoes, hats, bijouterie, perfumery, furs, fabrics and accessories passed through them.

Karl first became famous in Chloe in 1963. His style is famous for its lightness and liveliness. Lagerfeld brings fantasy, bold decisions into him, his outfits are unusually feminine. He experiments with the finest fabrics, creates weightless layered dresses, jackets, blazers, translucent blouses and much more. But all this could be combined in the most unexpected ways. Silk and lace were his favorite fabrics then. He puts various fantastic prints on these fabrics. At the same time, he begins to work with four fashion houses at once - Chloe, Fendi, Krizia, Charles Laurdan, creating completely different collections for each of them. For Fendi in 1965, he began sewing fur collections, fearlessly fighting the green.Largerfeld took Fendi to the next level, launching a line of dresses, suitcases, bags and other accessories. The Fendi sisters said that working with Karl was a real pleasure, they adored him. “We have been together for many years, we have practically grown together. We understand each other from a half-glance and can convey to our clients all of Karl's ideas, ”they said. And the Fendi designs are of the highest quality that Italy can be proud of.
Since 1983, Karl Lagerfeld has been the head of the Chanel House. The two most famous names of the century were united - Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld. And it became a real sensation, moreover, from the show of the first collection.

Since 1984, Lagerfeld, regardless of the circumstances and work with other brands, work in cinema and theater, design of elite porcelain for the German company Hutchenrehter, design of jewelry, cosmetics and perfumes, a line of sportswear for the American company, has been releasing its own collection twice a year. Is this all possible !? How do you manage to cover everything? But Karl Lagerfeld is not afraid of work, he lives in it.

His work, his fantastic work and skill have earned the most prestigious Golden Thimble award in the category “Best Collection of the Year”.

It was at this time that Karl's talent began to appear vividly in the fact that he did not change the "handwriting" of the creators of fashion houses, he only put his zest into new collections. The style of the House remained the same. Such a person was needed House Chanelwhen, after his death in 1971, the chair of the chief stylist was empty. It was Karl Lagerfeld who managed to preserve the style of Coco, the style of the Great Mademoiselle. Self-affirmation of one's own style was unacceptable here, it was necessary to preserve the uniqueness and originality of the genius Coco. The fashion world was thrilled when Karl Lagerfeld recreated the spirit of Chanel at Chanel. For the 80s fashion, Karl Lagerfeld took elements from Coco Chanel's arsenal. Thus, he rejuvenated Coco's style, made it more modern. Chanel's legacy has come to life again and has now retained its relevance.

Until 1993, Karl Lagerfeld worked at Chloe. He breathed new life into the feminine and youthful style of "flirt-bow" created by him. In parallel with the creation of collections, Karl creates for Chloe fragrances for women and men - the perfume Photo, JAKO and KL under the name Parfumes Lagerfeld.
His working day lasts up to 20 hours a day, so it's no surprise that he creates up to 2,500 sketches on average every year. For every fashion house in which he works, Karl Lagerfeld creates an individual collection, he, as it were, chooses his own story, in which he focuses on the charm of French women or the beauty of Roman outfits, or the fashionable mood of Manhattan, where jeans, denim jackets and mini-skirts reign. He is fascinated by this diversity, he likes to think in different directions. Showing off his collections, Karl Lagerfeld will always showcase several wedding dresses.

His interests are multifaceted, but what is he more interested in? In addition to creating models, his passion is the creation of perfumes and photography, which is not as old as fashion. Karl Lagerfeld knows how to distribute the remaining time of the day from the creation of collections. He reads a lot, which has remained his hobby for the rest of his life, draws, photographs.
He takes pictures of all his collections himself, he also creates photo advertisements for his new collections. In 1993 he received the Lucky Strike Designer Award, in 1996 the German Society of Photography. Chanel's advertising campaigns have been shot only by him for several seasons, and some of his photo shoots also appear in fashionable glossy magazines. He is, one might say, the only haute couture designer who releases his albums of personally executed photographs.

The brightest stars, including Catherine Deneuve, Grace Jones and Ira Furstenberg, became fans of his art.

Traveling across countries, he always brings new books. The most favorite authors are Balzac, Dostoevsky and of course books about art. They joke about him that he has more books than any state library.

He did not begin to shoulder the management of his own fashion house, he chose to remain a free designer. But, despite this, Karl Lagerfeld still became "Emperor Karl", but in fact, he is called Kaiser Karl. Always surrounded by an aura of fame, bodyguards and female fans, Karl Lagerfeld creates delightful collections that bring him fame, but fame and power are of little interest to him. Karl Lagerfeld prefers to live in the present, he never regrets anything, even if instead of the expected success comes failure. He doesn't smoke or drink. This is probably not at all easy, because in that world - the world of Parisian bohemia, not many people manage to be the right person. In 2000, he wrote the book “The 3D Diet (Designer, Doctor, Diet)” from his own experience when he lost several tens of kilograms.

He developed a weight loss system himself, and used it under the supervision of a specialist - a nutritionist. In Karl Lagerfeld's diet, plant-based foods are preferred with very little animal fats, alcohol is excluded, with the exception of a small amount of red wine, and of course the amount of food intake is limited. Includes the use of vitamin supplements and at least 2 liters of clean water.
The new look of Karl Lagerfeld, slender and rejuvenated, was the impetus for the creation of a new collection of denim.

What is his genius? In his creations, in each of his work, and, probably, the ability not to find time for boredom. His performance is fantastic - "I start work on a new collection the day before I show the previous one."
He made many friends who appreciate and love him,
became, if not the main, then one of the most significant couturiers in the history of fashion of the twentieth century.
And for those who consider him too strange or simply mysterious, we can say that Karl Lagerfeld never turned to psychotherapists. And he himself jokes that he once read a letter from one of Freud's patients, who wrote to his friend: “Never use psychotherapy sessions. It kills creativity. " Therefore, he believes that there should be no place for boredom in life, and thoughts should only be about pleasant things - this is the best therapy.

“I love fashion. I am fascinated by the process of creating different collections. I like to think in different directions, ”says Karl Lagerfeld about himself.

Karl Lagerfeld does not stop there, he has new interests, for example, the design of old mansions. And here, you can be sure, Lagerfeld will show his talent, because he knows how to turn everything ordinary around him into a work of art. But you must admit, true emperor can he live among ordinary things.